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SPORTS | B1MARTIN TRUEX JR. GRABS 1ST WIN OF NASCAR SEASON AT FONTANA SPORTS | B1THE LAST ROARS ARE FOR RORY MCILROY AT BAY HILL LOCAL & STATE | A3SPRING FEST IN MOUNT DORA OFFERS ART, FAMILY FUN Local & State ................A3 Opinion ......................A11 Weather ......................A12 Sports...........................B1 Comics ........................B6 Classifieds ...................B9 Volume 142, Issue 78 2018 GateHouse Media Home delivery: 352-787-0600 @dailycommercial Facebook.com./daily.commercial YOUR LOCAL SOURCE FOR LAKE & SUMTER COUNTIES Monday, March 19, 2018 $1.50 By Linda FloreaCorrespondentTAVARES Â„ It's been a year since the Tavares Community Theater found a permanent home at 107 N. Lake Ave. in Tavares. Since then, the group has focused efforts on raising money to refurbish the 4,500 square foot building as a theater.Founder Noel Miner said so far they have raised about a quarter of the money needed and the phase one beautification has been completed.ÂWe just started with fundraising,ÂŽ Miner said. ÂThe money we've gotten so far is by being very careful with our funds from shows and doners signing checks. We were surprised by Lake Frances Estates. They said, Setting the stageFounder Noel Miner is pictured in the lobby of the new Tavares Community Theater, which was painted and decorated in phase one. Phase two includes installing insulation to the tune of about $20,000, followed by a $15,000 effort to build the stage and a Â“ nal $100,000 to Â“ nish and open the doors. [LINDA FLOREA / CORRESPONDENT] Tavares Community Theater raising money to refurbish buildingBy Ryan Nakashima and Anick JesdanunThe Associated PressMENLO PARK, Calif. Â„ Facebook has a problem it just canÂt kick: People keep exploit-ing it in ways that could sway elections, and in the worst cases even undermine democracy.News reports that Facebook let the Trump-affiliated data mining firm Cambridge Analyt-ica abscond with data from tens of millions of users mark the third time in roughly a year the company appears to have been outfoxed by crafty outsiders in this way.Before the Cambridge imbro-glio, there were Russian agents running election-related propaganda campaigns through targeted ads and fake political events. And before the Russians took center stage, there were purveyors of fake news who spread false stories to rile up hyperpartisan audiences and profit from the resulting ad revenue.In the previous cases, Facebook initially downplayed the risks posed by these activities. Facebook has a problem with being exploitedBy Christina A. Cassidy and Sarah ZimmermanThe Associated PressSPRINGFIELD, Ill. Â„ With the Illinois primary just days away, state election officials are beefing up cyber defenses and scanning for possible intrusions into voting systems and voter registration rolls.They have good reason to be on guard: Two years ago, Illi-nois was the lone state known to have its state election system breached in a hacking effort that ultimately targeted 21 states. Hackers believe to be connected to Russia pen-etrated the stateÂs voter rolls, viewing data on some 76,000 Illinois voters, although there is no indication any information was changed.Since then, Illinois election officials have added firewalls, installed software designed to prevent intrusions and shifted staffing to focus on the threats. The state has been receiving regular cyber scans from the federal government to identify potential weak spots and has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment. That assessment is scheduled but will not happen before TuesdayÂs second-in the-nation primary.ÂItÂs not something where Security of voter rolls a concernVoters cast their ballots last Tuesday in Illinois primary elections at ChicagoÂs new downtown early-voting super site. [KIICHIRO SATO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] By Matthew Lee and Josh LedermanThe Associated PressWASHINGTON Â„ When the ax fell on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his spokes-woman was half a world away, a distance he and his inner circle preferred and enforced.Now, itÂs Tillerson whoÂs on his way out after his unceremonious firing by President Donald Trump, and Heather Nauert whose star is ascendant.U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Nauert are among the few women in the Trump administration with highprofile voices on foreign policy. Only three State Department officials Â„ all men Â„ now outrank Nauert, a former Fox News anchor who declined comment for this story.NauertÂs meteoric rise comes even though just a week ago she seemed not long for the job. Then Tillerson lost his.At State Department, NauertÂs star is ascendantSee THEATER, A9 See SECURITY, A9 See FACEBOOK, A9 See NAUERT, A9

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A2 Monday, March 19, 2018 | DailyCommercial.com NATION & WORLDPUBLISHER Steve Skaggs: steve.skaggs@dailycommercial.com ......................352-365-8213 EXECUTIVE EDITOR Tom McNiff: tom.mcniff@dailycommercial.com ............................352-365-8250 DIGITAL EDITOR, LIFESTYLES EDITOR Whitney Lehnecker: whitney.lehnecker@dailycommercial.com ....352-365-8258 SPORTS EDITOR Paul Jenkins: paul.jenkins@dailycommercial.com ..........................352-365-8204 SPORTS WRITER Frank Jolley: frank.jolley@dailycommet.com..................................352-365-8268 REPORTER Frank StanÂ“ eld: frank.standÂ“ eld@dailycommercial.com ...............352-374-8257 REPORTER Roxanne Brown: roxanne.brown@dailycommercial.com ................352-365-8266 YOUR LOCAL NEWS SOURCE FOR LAKE AND SUMTER COUNTIESPrint delivery available within the newspaper distribution area only. By submitting your address and/or email, you understand that you may receive promotional offers from Gatehouse Media and its related companies. You may unsubscribe from receiving any such offers at any ti me by calling 352-787-0600. The advertised price does not include the charges for any premium editions. Premium editions are published to p rovide additional information and value to our readers. You agree that you will be charged up to an additional $5.00 for each premium edition pub lished and delivered to you during your subscription period, in addition to the cost of your subscription. The length of your subscription will be s hortened by the publication of premium editions if those premium editions are delivered to you during your subscription. You may elect to be billed se parately for premium editions by contacting Customer Service at 1-352-787-0600. Thus, unless you elect to be billed separately up to an additional $ 3.00 for each premium edition, you agree that the length of your subscription will be shortened in proportion to the value of the number of premium e ditions published and delivered to you during your subscription period. As an illustrative example, if you select a subscription of up to 12 week s at a cost of $48.00, and two premium editions at $2.00 each are published and delivered to you during that subscription period, your subscription wi ll be shortened by 1 week because the weekly cost of the subscription is $4.00 per week and the premium edition charges total $4.00. Depending upo n the length of your subscription and the timing of the publication and delivery of premium editions, you will not be charged for any premium e ditions if none are published and delivered to you during your subscription. As such, in that case only, the length of your subscription will not b e shortened. The timing of the publication and delivery of premium editions is variable. There will be no more than 1 premium edition published each mo nth during the subscription term. Visit Dailycommercial.com for examples of premium editions. For more info or to cancel your subscription ple ase call 352-787-0600.The Daily Commercial (ISSN 0896-1042) is published daily for $178.47 per year (plus Florida sales tax) by GateHouse Media at 21 2 East Main Street, Leesburg, Florida. Periodicals postage is paid at the USPO, Leesburg, FL. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to the Daily Commercial, P.O. Box 490007, Leesburg, FL 34749-0007. All material contained in this edit ion is property of the Daily Commercial and is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Reproduction is forbidden without written consent from the publisher. MISSED YOUR NEWSPAPER?: Call 352-787-0600 in Lake County or 877-702-0600 in Sumter County from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Call from 7 a. m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday and from 7 to 10 a.m. on Sunday. If youÂre going on vacation, call circulation 48 hours ahead to stop service. ANNOUNCEMENTS, CALENDAR, GAME RESULTS: Email upcoming events, along with news about awards and personal or professional milestones Â„ with a photo, if you desire Â„ to news@dailycommercial.com. Schools or coaches can report game results after 6 p.m. by calling 352-365-8268 or 352-365-8204. Submissions also can be emailed to sports@dailycommercial.com. OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCURACY: The Daily Commercial promptly corrects errors of fact appearing in its pages. If you believe we have made an error, call the n ews department at 352-365-8250. Retail Advertising .........................................................352-314-3278 ClassiÂ“ ed Advertising ...................................................352-314-3278 Lake Circulation............................................................352-787-0600 Sumter Circulation .......................................................877-702-0600 Billing ...........................................................................352-787-0600 Accounting ...................................................................352-365-8212 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Home delivery (Daily/Sunday) 3 months: 41.70 ....................Tax: 2.92 ..........................Total: 44.62 6 months: 88.40 ....................Tax: 5.84 ..........................Total: 89.24 1 year: 166.80 .......................Tax: 11.68 ........................Total: 178.47 FOR HOME DELIVERY: Call 352-787-0600 (Lake) or 877-702-0600 (Sumter) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Prepayments for 3 months or more, mail to: Circulation Dept., the Daily Commercial, P.O. Box 490007, Leesburg, FL 34749-0007. Billed monthly at the rates shown. LOTTERY ALLENTOWN, PA.Teen girl home, man in custody after both located in MexicoA Pennsylvania teenager who was missing for almost two weeks along with the 45-year-old man who frequently signed her out of school without her parentsÂ permission was returned home and the man was in custody after the two were found in Mexico, authori-ties said.Federal agents and Mexican authorities found 16-year-old Amy Yu and Kevin Esterly in Playa del Carmen on Saturday and they were flown to Miami, authorities said. Police said the girl, who was in good health, arrived on Sunday in Philadel-phia and was taken home to Allentown, 60 miles northwest of the city. Esterly was awaiting processing in Miami. JERUSALEMPalestinian stabs Israeli in Jerusalem, shot dead by policeIsraelÂs Shin Bet security service says a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli in Jerusalem, seriously wound-ing him. Police said he was shot dead by officers at the scene.The attack Sunday occurred in JerusalemÂs Old City, home to sensitive holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.The Shin Bet said the attacker was from the West Bank city of Nablus.There has been a spike in vio-lence since President Donald TrumpÂs Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as IsraelÂs capital. Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as their future capital and view TrumpÂs decision as siding with Israel.LONDONAt least 13 hurt after car rams into nightclub in BritainBritish police say a man who had been kicked out of a nightclub rammed his car into revelers on a dance floor, injuring at least 13 people.The Kent Police force says the 21-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder over SaturdayÂs crash in Gravesend, 30 miles south-east of London. Police say they are not treating the incident as terrorism.Footage posted on social media showed a large car on a dance floor inside a marquee tent at BlakeÂs nightclub. On Facebook, the club thanked Âthe heroic actions of our door team and guests to apprehend the individual before further harm was caused.ÂŽ The Associated PressIN BRIEF By Darlene SupervilleThe Associated PressWASHINGTON Â„ President Donald Trump on Sunday took out his frustra-tions over the intensifying Russia investigation by lash-ing out at special counsel Robert Mueller, signaling a possible shift away from a strategy of cooperating with a probe he believes is biased against him.In a series of weekend tweets naming Mueller for the first time, Trump criticized the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and raised fresh concerns about the objectivity and political leanings of the members of MuellerÂs team.Trump also challenged the honesty of Andrew McCabe, the newly fired FBI deputy director, and James Comey, the bureauÂs former director whom Trump fired last year over the Russia probe.The presidentÂs aggressive stance followed a call Saturday by his personal lawyer for Rod Rosenstein, whom Trump appointed as deputy attorney general and who now oversees MuellerÂs inquiry, to Âbring an endÂŽ to that investigation. Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, which spent the past year conducting a parallel investigation, recently said they had drafted a report concluding no collusion or coordination between TrumpÂs presiden-tial campaign and Russia. Committee Democrats vehemently disagreed.ÂThe Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime,ÂŽ Trump tweeted Saturday. ÂIt was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improp-erly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!ÂŽ Trump was referring to a dossier of anti-Trump research funded by the Democratic Party and Hillary ClintonÂs campaign.Likely adding to TrumpÂs growing frustration, The New York Times reported last week that Mueller had subpoenaed the Trump Organization and requested Russia-related documents. Trump had said Mueller would cross a red line with such a step.ÂWhy does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Dem-ocrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans?ÂŽ Trump tweeted Sunday.Some of MuellerÂs investigators indeed have contributed to Democratic political candidates, but Jus-tice Department policy and federal service law bar discrimination in the hiring of career positions on the basis of political affiliation. Muel-ler is a Republican.A deeply frustrated Trump has fumed to confidants that the Mueller probe is Âgoing to choke the life out ofÂŽ his presidency if allowed to con-tinue unabated indefinitely, according to an outside adviser who insisted on anonymity to discuss pri-vate conversations with the president.Trump has long believed that the entrenched bureau-cracy, particularly at the Justice Department and FBI, is out to thwart him, and has pointed to McCabeÂs wifeÂs associations with Democrats, including longtime Clinton ally Terry McAu-liffe, as an example. He also fumed to one confidant after seeing a promotion for ComeyÂs forthcoming book, and believes the former FBI director will seek to enrich himself by besmirching TrumpÂs reputation.The president has long been torn over how to approach the Mueller probe. Trump insists that his cam-paign did not collude with Russia, and his legal team, namely attorney Ty Cobb, has counseled the president to cooperate with Mueller. But some former campaign advisers have urged Trump to be combative, warning him that that the investigation poses an existential threat to his presidency.TrumpÂs attacks raised new concerns among mem-bers of Congress that he could be seeking to orchestrate MuellerÂs firing. Republican and Democratic lawmakers warned Trump to not even think about it.ÂIf he tried to do that, that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency,ÂŽ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally.Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called for the passage of bipartisan bills designed to protect Mueller that have stalled in Congress.ÂThis president is engaged in desperate and reckless conduct to intimidate his law enforcement agencies of this country and to try and stop the special counsel. That is unacceptable in a democ-racy,ÂŽ Durbin said.Trump cannot directly fire Mueller, who can only be dismissed for cause. Any dismissal of Mueller would have to be carried out by Rosenstein, who has publicly expressed his support for Mueller.Trump lashes out at MuellerPresident Donald Trump talks with reporters during a March 15 meeting in the Oval OfÂ“ ce of the White House in Washington. [EVAN VUCCI/ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO] DATELINESMANILA, PHILIPPINESA Â“ re engulfs the Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino in Manila, Philippines, on Sunday. The blaze killed at least three employees, trapped two others and forced the evacuation of more than 300 guests, some by helicopter, ofÂ“ cials said. Police said it was unclear whether the Â“ re, which raged for hours, started in the casino on the lower Â” oors or in an area of the hotel that was under renovation. [BULLIT MARQUEZ/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATESBritish schoolteacher Andria ZaÂ“ rakou reacts after winning the Global Teacher Prize at a ceremony Sunday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ZaÂ“ rakou won the $1 million prize for teaching excellence awarded by the Varkey Foundation for her work with inner-city children in London, helping students feel welcome and safe in a borough with one of the highest murder rates in the country. [JON GAMBRELL/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS] Saturday, March 17 Lotto: 5-23-24-34-36-41 x4 Powerball: 22-57-59-60-66-7 x2 Fantasy 5: 6-8-25-27-34 Sunday, March 18 Pick 5 Afternoon: 4-8-1-5-0 Evening: 3-4-9-4-2 Pick 4 Afternoon: 3-3-8-5 Evening: 9-3-1-1 Pick 3 Afternoon: 0-0-9 Evening: 9-4-2 Pick 2 Afternoon: 2-7 Evening: 7-3

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DailyCommercial.com | Monday, March 19, 2018 A3 LOCAL & STATETom McNiff, editor 352-365-8250 tom.mcniff@dailycommercial.com By Zac AndersonGateHouse FloridaFlorida is back in the land conservation business in a big way, but that is not stopping environmental advocates from moving ahead with a lawsuit accusing the state of failing to abide by a 2014 constitutional amendment that earmarked money for conservation. While praising lawmakers for making a major investment in conservation this year, environmental leaders across Florida argue much more is needed to tackle the big backlog of projects that built up during lean funding years.And they say lawmakers still arenÂt complying with an amendment Â„ approved by 75 percent of voters Â„ that requires the Legislature to spend 33 percent of taxes paid on real estate transactions on conservation Florida Forever gets $101 millionFlorida is back in the land conservation business in a big way, but that is not stopping environmental advocates from moving ahead with a lawsuit accusing the state of failing to abide by a 2014 constitutional amendment that earmarked money for conservation. [GATEHOUSE MEDIA FILE] Lawmakers make major investment in land conservation initiative MOUNT DORA Â„ Crowds gathered for the 21st annual Spring Fest in downtown Mount Dora Saturday and Sunday to enjoy the weather and the works of many different artists and crafters. More than 250 artists lined the streets exhibiting their unique pieces of art or craft. Saturday offered a childrenÂs Leprechaun Hunt in Gilbert Park in honor of St. PatrickÂs Day.Welcoming spring21st annual Spring Fest in Mount Dora o ers art, family funFlorida-themed needlework is seen at the 21st annual Spring Fest in Mount Dora. [SUBMITTED] Crowds stroll downtown Mount Dora Saturday for the 21st annual Spring Fest. More than 250 artists lined the streets exhibiting their unique pieces of art or craft. [SUBMITTED] Aquaticstyle art is seen at the 21st annual Spring Fest in Mount Dora. [SUBMITTED] By Curt AndersonAssociated PressMIAMI Â„ Officials were so concerned about the mental stability of the student accused of last monthÂs Florida school massacre that they decided he should be forcibly committed.But the recommendation was never acted upon.A commitment under the law would have made it more difficult if not impossible for Nikolas Cruz to obtain a gun legally.Cruz is accused of the shooting rampage that killed 14 students and three school employees at Marjory Stone-man Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. In addi-tion, 17 people were wounded.But more than a year earlier, documents in the criminal case against Nikolas Cruz and obtained by The Associated Press show school officials and a sheriffÂs deputy recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be involun-tarily committed for a mental evaluation.The documents, which are part of CruzÂs criminal case in the shooting, show that he had written the word ÂkillÂŽ in a notebook, told a classmate that he wanted to buy a gun and use it, and had cut his arm supposedly in anger because he had broken up with a girlfriend. He also told another student he had drunk gasoline and was throwing up. Calls had even been made to the FBI about the possibility of Cruz using a gun at school.The documents were provided by a psychological assessment service initi-ated by CruzÂs mother called Henderson Behavioral Health. The documents show a high school resource officer who was also a sheriffÂs deputy and two school counselors recommended in September AP: Some wanted Cruz committed in 2016By Jennifer Kay and Allen G. BreedAssociated PressMIAMI Â„ As crews removed bodies from beneath a collapsed pedestrian bridge Saturday, a victimÂs uncle raged against what he called the Âcomplete incompetenceÂŽ and Âcolos-sal failureÂŽ that allowed people to drive beneath the unfinished concrete span.ÂWhy they had to build this monstrosity in the first place to get children across the street?ÂŽ said an anguished Joe Smitha, whose niece, Alexa Duran, was crushed in ThursdayÂs collapse at Flor-ida International University. ÂThen they decided to stress test this bridge while traffic was running underneath it?ÂŽAuthorities say six people were killed when the struc-ture fell onto a busy six-lane road connecting the campus to the community of Sweet-water. Crews removed two cars Saturday morning and said they found three bodies, but officials said there were still at least two more vic-tims beneath the rubble. Late Bridge victimÂs grieving uncle lashes out at ÂincompetenceÂSix crosses are placed at a makeshift memorial on the Florida International University campus in Miami on Saturday, near the scene of a pedestrian bridge collapse that killed at least six people on Thursday. [AP PHOTO/JENNIFER KAY] See FLORIDA, A4 See CRUZ, A4 See UNCLE, A4BEST BETS FOR TODAYOUTSMART THE SCAMMERS: At 2 p.m. at Leesburg Public Library, 100 E. Main St. Learn how to protect yourself. Presented by Edward Jones Financial Advisor Kevin Anschutz. Free. Call 352-7289790 for information. AUDITIONS: From 7 to 9:30 p.m. at IceHouse Theatre, 1100 N. Unser St. in Mount Dora. For The Glass Menagerie. By appointment only. Email darlin@icehousetheatre. com and include performance resume and photo. Go to icehousetheatre.com for information. OUR FATHERÂS HANDS CRAFT GROUP: From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. every Monday at New Life Baptist Church, 35300 Radio Road in Leesburg. Most items created are donated to charity. Call 352-728-0004 for information.NEWS BRIEFSLEESBURGMandatory boil-water notice issued for Leesburg residentsCrews in Leesburg were working Saturday to repair a water main break in the water distribution system connected to the elevated water tower located on North Col-lege Street between West Main Street and High Street.A mandatory boil-water notice is in effect for any home or business that experi-enced a loss in water pressure as a result of the water main break. Boil all water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth or wash-ing dishes. Hold the water at a rolling boil for at least one minute before using it.The boil-water notice will remain in effect until repairs are complete and until two consecutive days of a Bacteriological Survey shows that the water is safe to drink. TAMPACirque du Soleil performer dies after fall at Tampa showA Cirque du Soleil performer died after his hand slipped off the double rings and he fell 20 feet during a performance in Florida, police and the entertainment com-pany said Sunday.The theatrical company announced on Twitter that Yann Arnaud fell while performing an aerial straps number Saturday night during the show VOLTA in Tampa.Tampa police said they were investigating the death of Arnaud, 38, though they said in a release that it appears to be accidental. Arnaud died at a hospital early Sunday. He had been a Cirque du Soleil performer for more than 15 years.Cirque du Soleil canceled its final two Tampa perfor-mances Sunday.ÂThe entire Cirque du Soleil family is in shock and devas-tated by this tragedy,ÂŽ the entertainment groupÂs Presi-dent Daniel Lamarre said in a statement. ÂWe are currently gathering more information about this tragic event. We are offering our full and transparent collaboration to the authorities as they look into the circumstances of this accident.ÂŽ TALLAHASSEEThousands of Florida homeowners will be paid for lost treesThousands of Florida homeowners who had healthy citrus trees cut down by the state are finally going to get paid for their losses.Gov. Rick Scott on Friday approved a new state budget that includes more than $52 million to pay homeowners in Broward and Palm Beach counties whose trees were removed more than a decade ago in a failed attempt to eradicate citrus canker. The See BRIEFS, A4

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A4 Monday, March 19, 2018 | DailyCommercial.comhomeowners were part of class action lawsuits against the state.ScottÂs decision was surprising since last year he vetoed more than $37 million in payments that legislators had approved for homeowners in Broward and Lee counties.In a last-ditch attempt to battle contamination, the state in 2000 ordered the destruction of even healthy citrus trees within 1,900 feet of an infected tree with or without the ownerÂs permission. BRIEFSFrom Page A3efforts.The Legislature set aside $101 million for Florida Forever Â„ the stateÂs marquee land conservation initiative Â„ in the 2018-19 state budget approved last week. The money is significant Â„ the largest amount Florida Forever has received since the Great Recession. Lawmakers devoted no money to the program for the current fiscal year. Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, championed the Florida Forever funding this year.ÂThe voters were screaming at us to do something,ÂŽ Brad-ley said on the Senate floor last week. ÂAmendment 1 was over-whelmingly passed and frankly we had not done our job up until this year. This year I think we did our job.ÂŽBut there are 118 land acquisition projects on the Florida Forever priority list that total nearly 2.2 million acres.Since 2008, the average price per acre to purchase conservation land through the Florida Forever program has been $6,400, according to an analysis done by Kent Wimmer with the environmental group Defenders of Wildlife.At $6,400 per acre, Florida would need to set aside roughly $14 billion to purchase all the land on the Florida Forever pri-ority list. Or to put it another way, $101 million is less than 1 percent of the money needed to completely buy down the Florida Forever list.ÂWe really appreciate Sen. Bradley going to bat and making it happen,ÂŽ Wimmer said of this yearÂs Florida Forever alloca-tion. ÂWeÂre really excited to have those funds available, but thereÂs a long ways to go.ÂŽGetting creativeEven if the state only focused on buying lands deemed a Âhigh priorityÂŽ under Florida ForeverÂs ranking system Â„ more than 800,000 acres Â„ it would still cost more than $5 billion at $6,400 an acre.Environmental groups plan to keep pushing for the Legislature to restore Florida Forever to its historic funding level. Between 1990 and 2008 the state spent $275 million annually on Florida Forever and its predecessor.A return to spending roughly $1 billion on land conservation every four years would start to make a big dent in the Florida Forever priority list, especially when considering that some of the land will be protected much more cheaply by purchasing con-servation easements.The average price per acre for a conservation ease-ment on ranchland protected through the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program Â„ which is part of Florida For-ever Â„ was $1,700, according to WimmerÂs analysis.Manatee County rancher Jim Strickland has been lobbying state lawmakers to expand their use of conser-vation easements. Strickland wants to put an easement on 4,530 acres of BlackbeardÂs Ranch, a property abutting Myakka River State Park that he oversees as the managing partner, and other ranches with conservation value.Of the $101 million set aside for Florida Forever this year, only $5.8 million is earmarked for purchasing conservation easements through the Rural and Family Lands program.ÂIÂve got reason to be hope-ful but IÂm also realistic,ÂŽ Strickland said, adding: Â$5.8 million is not going to go very far.ÂŽAt $1,700 an acre, it would cost $7.7 million just to do a conservation easement for BlackbeardÂs Ranch. And there are dozens of other Florida Forever projects totaling 703,078 acres that are targeted for conservation easements.Environmental groups have been forced to get creative in recent years to protect priority properties.The Conservation Founda-tion of the Gulf Coast was able to broker a deal to preserve the 1,143-acre Triangle Ranch Â„ which also borders Myakka River State Park Â„ by finding a private buyer who wanted to protect the property while also leveraging some state money to purchase a conser-vation easement.Conservation Foundation President Christine Johnson said sheÂs hopeful that the increase in funding for Florida Forever this year Âis a beginning of a trend and the funds will be able to continue to grow and we can conserve land.ÂŽ ÂIt can seem to be a daunt-ing task and sometimes in the last several years weÂve felt like Sisyphus,ÂŽ Johnson added, referencing the man condemned to roll a boulder uphill for eternity in ancient Greek mythology. ÂBut I donÂt think itÂs a lost cause by any means.ÂŽ Lawsuit continuesMany conservation advo-cates are walking a tightrope this year, praising GOP lead-ers in the Legislature for making a big commitment to Florida Forever while pointing out that the $101 million is roughly a third of what the program used to receive.But some are more sharply critical.The Sierra Club and a number of other environmen-tal groups are suing the state of Florida, saying state lead-ers have not complied with a 2014 constitutional amend-ment approved by voters. The amendment requires that 33 percent of tax revenue Â„ more than $800 million this year Â„ from real estate transac-tions go toward conservation efforts.Environmental advocates do not believe that all of the money earmarked by the amendment must go to Florida Forever. There are other conservation programs Â„ Everglades protection, springs restoration Â„ that they consider permissible uses of the money. But they argue that much of the money is going to pay for inappropri-ate expenses, such as salaries for forest service workers.Frank Jackalone, the Sierra Club's Florida chapter director, said the groupÂs lawsuit will go forward.ÂWe are not going to be in a position where we say thatÂs enough; thatÂs not enough,ÂŽ Jackalone said, adding: ÂUntil they fully restore the Florida Forever fund Âƒ weÂre not happy. ItÂs kind of like saying in order to live you need a loaf of bread and theyÂve been giving us a few crumbs. Well this year the Legislature gave us one slice. We still need a loaf of bread.ÂŽJackalone noted that Florida is growing again at a rapid pace.The stateÂs population is projected to increase by some-where between 2.8 million and 5.6 million people in the next 12 years, according to the University of FloridaÂs Bureau of Economic and Business Research.The same lands being tar-geted for protection are coming under increasing development pressure.ÂThe people of Florida decided they wanted to spend some of their tax money to pro-tect the remaining wild lands in Florida,ÂŽ Jackalone said. ÂSo itÂs not a matter of should you do this or not? Is it the right policy? ItÂs the publicÂs policy and the Legislature should not thumb their noses at the public.ÂŽ FLORIDAFrom Page A32016 that Cruz be commit-ted for mental evaluation under FloridaÂs Baker Act. That law allows for involuntary commitment for mental health examination for at least three days.Such an involuntary com-mitment would also have been a high obstacle if not a complete barrier to legally obtaining a firearm, such as the AR-15 rifle used in the Stoneman Douglas massacre on Feb. 14, authorities say.There is no evidence Cruz was ever committed. Coincidentally, the school resource officer who recom-mended that Cruz be ÂBaker ActedÂŽ was Scot Peterson Â„ the same Broward SheriffÂs Office deputy who resigned amid accusations he failed to respond to the shooting by staying outside the building where the killings occurred.David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor, said that an involuntary commitment would have been a huge red flag had Cruz attempted to buy a firearm legally.ÂIf he had lied, hopefully the verification of the form would have pulled up the commitment paperwork,ÂŽ Weinstein said.The documents do not say why Cruz was not commit-ted under the Baker Act or whether he may not have qualified for other reasons. The law allows a law enforcement officer such as Peterson to initiate commit-ment under the Baker Act.An attorney for Peterson did not immediately respond to an email seeking com-ment Sunday.Cruz, 19, is charged in a 34-count indictment with killing 17 people and wound-ing 17 others in the attack. He faces the death penalty if convicted, but his public defender Melisa McNeill has said he would plead guilty in return for a life prison sentence.In the Henderson Behav-ioral Health documents, CruzÂs mother Lynda is quoted as saying she had fresh concerns about her sonÂs mental state after he punched holes in a wall at their home in Parkland. The clinicians at Henderson came to the home for interviews and said Cruz admitted punching the wall but said he did so because he was upset at a breakup with his girlfriend.Cruz also admitted cutting his arm with a pencil sharpener.After a Sept. 28, 2016 interview, the documents say Cruz Âreports that he cut his arms 3-4 weeks ago and states that this is the only time he has ever cut. (Cruz) states that he cut because he was lonely, states that he had broken up with his girlfriend and reports that his grades had fallen. (Cruz) states that he is better now, reports that he is no longer lonely and states that his grades have gone back up.ÂŽHe also told the clinician he owned only a pellet gun and was not capable of doing Âserious harmÂŽ to anyone. The documents show that Cruz was very much on the radar screen of mental health professionals and the Bro-ward County school system, yet very little appears to have been done other than these evaluations.Other red flags have also surfaced, including calls to the FBI about CruzÂs poten-tial to become a school shooter and numerous visits by county law enforcement officials to his home Â„ both before his mother died in November and after, when he lived briefly with a family friend in Palm Beach County.Again, very little was done.ItÂs not clear from the documents who the recom-mendation was forwarded to or why it was not followed up. CRUZFrom Page A3in the day they recovered a third car, and Saturday night they said they believed all victims had been found.The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed the names of four victims Saturday.Rolando Fraga Hernandez and his gold Jeep Cherokee were pulled from the wreck-age Saturday. Later, the bodies of Oswald Gonzalez, 57, and Alberto Arias, 54, were found inside a white Chevy truck.Navarro Brown was pulled from the rubble Thursday and later died at the hospital.Authorities have not released DuranÂs name, but her family has said she died. The FIU freshman was studying political science.The National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that crews were applying whatÂs known as Âpost-tensioning forceÂŽ on the bridge before the failure. Authorities are investigating whether cracking that was reported just before the span fell contributed to the accident.Experts interviewed by The Associated Press were mixed on the significance of those reported cracks.Amjad Aref, a professor with the University of Buf-faloÂs Institute of Bridge Engineering, said they should have been Âa big red flag.ÂŽÂBridges are really very vulnerable when they are under construction, when there are just pieces,ÂŽ he said. ÂItÂs like still a flimsy structure. And when you see cracks, somebody has to raise really a big flag and say, ÂWe need to do something. We need to figure out whatÂs happening quickly and do any mitigating actions to prevent further progression of damage and ultimately collapse,Â as we saw here.ÂŽBut Ralph Verrastro, principle of Naples-based Bridging Solutions, was not surprised to hear about cracks, and said it was not necessarily a problem.ÂAny bridge with concrete, thatÂs made of concrete, thereÂs always cracks,ÂŽ said Verrastro, who has been an engineer for 42 years. ÂIf they had concerns that something was going on for that main span, then they would have called the sheriff or the police and closed the road. I would be very sur-prised if itÂs determined that they were taking a chance and trying to do something under traffic. ItÂs just, as bridge engineers, thatÂs just never done.ÂŽTwo days before the collapse, an engineer with the design firm left a voicemail to say some cracking had been found at one end of the concrete span, but the voice-mail wasnÂt picked up until after the collapse, Florida Department of Transporta-tion officials said Friday. In a transcript released Friday night, Denney Pate with FIGG Bridge Group said the cracking would need repairs but the company didnÂt think it was a safety issue. University officials, how-ever, said Saturday that DOT officials had been aware of the cracking before the collapse. They said in a statement that representatives of FIU and DOT met with a FIGG engineer for two hours Thursday morning to discuss the cracking, and determined there wasnÂt a safety issue. The bridge fell soon afterward.ÂThe FIGG engineer of record delivered a technical presentation regarding the crack and concluded that there were no safety concerns and the crack did not compromise the structural integrity of the bridge,ÂŽ FIU said.NTSB officials have said itÂs too early to say whether any cracking contributed to the collapse.In a news release late Friday, FIGG Bridge Engineers said it Âcontinues to work diligentlyÂŽ to determine the cause of the collapse, and is examining the steps its team has taken. It added, ÂThe evaluation was based on the best avail-able information at that time and indicated that there were no safety issues.ÂŽ It also asked for time to accurately determine what led to the accident.Scheduled to open in 2019, the bridge was to provide safe passage over a canal and six lanes of traffic, a showpiece architectural feature connecting the campus with Sweetwater. The $14.2 mil-lion project was supposed to take advantage of a faster, cheaper and safer method of bridge-building promoted by the university.Early renderings online appeared to show whatÂs called a Âcable-stayedÂŽ structure supported by cables hanging from a central tower. However, a spokes-man for FIGG said Saturday the bridge that was being built actually had built-in trusses.ÂIt is a truss bridge with above deck truss elements which, from an engineering perspective, is very different than a cable-stayed bridge,ÂŽ FIGG spokeswoman Cheryl Stopnick said in an email.Verrastro said there may have been enough sup-port in place at the time. He said these projects are con-structed with Âvery specific sequencingÂŽ and phases.ÂThis was designed to support itself Â„ that was the beauty of the design, IÂm sure,ÂŽ he said. ÂYou didnÂt need temporary supports. It saves money. ItÂs safer, because if you put temporary supports, you have to block the road and the traf-fic would be a mess and it would be in the way. So IÂm sure that was all thought through.ÂŽSmitha, DuranÂs uncle, canÂt help but believe that this tragedy could have been avoided.ÂThis was a colossal failure of the system,ÂŽ he said. ÂThis was complete incompetence from the top ... I want some-one to step up and say, ÂThe buck stops with me.ÂÂŽ UNCLEFrom Page A3 Nikolas Cruz is lead out of the courtroom after an arraignment hearing Wednesday at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Cruz is accused of the shooting rampage that killed 14 students and three school employees at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. In addition, 17 people were wounded. More than a year earlier, documents in the criminal case against Nikolas Cruz and obtained by The Associated Press show school ofÂ“ cials and a sheriffÂs deputy recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation. But the recommendation was never acted upon. [AMY BETH BENNETT/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL VIA AP]

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DailyCommercial.com | Monday, March 19, 2018 A9'We are so pleased with what you are doing and we want to help you along the way.'ÂŽLake Frances held a chili dinner and raffle fund-raiser and donated $1,300 to the theater.The next fundraiser is a Backstage Bargain Bonanza (huge yard sale) March 30 and 31 at the new theater. Miner said there are plenty of new and lightly-used items they are gathering for the sale, but more is needed including home decor, collectibles, sporting goods, household items, furniture, jewelry and clothing. To arrange drop off donations and furniture pick up the week of March 18, call 352-237-0810 before March 28.The group is also seek-ing businesses that would like to donate items to be raffled off during the sale.Miner said the next fundraiser will probably be a gala at the new theater and volunteers are needed to organize.The next stage in refurbishing is to install insulation, which is estimated to be about $20,000. After that, the stage will cost about $15,000 and then another $100,000 is needed for other expenses.One hundred twenty five seats have been purchased for the new theater, and for $100 donors can dedicate a seat to a loved one.Miner is hopeful they will be in the new build-ing for next season. The next show is ÂWait Until DarkÂŽ May 12 to 27 at Bridges Covenant Church in Tavares.ÂEverything we're doing in the fundraising area is new to us,ÂŽ she said. ÂWe know what to do in the theater, fund-raising is all new.ÂŽ THEATERFrom Page A1you ever feel completely safe,ÂŽ Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections. ÂItÂs something where you feel like youÂre doing your best to protect against what could happen in a cyberattack.ÂŽFederal intelligence agencies determined that the attempted hacking of state elections systems in 2016 primarily targeted voter registration systems, not actual voting machines or vote tallying.Gaining access to elec-tronic voter rolls can do as much damage, giving hackers the ability to change names, addresses or polling places. Confusion, long lines and delays in reporting elec-tion results would follow, all of which undermines confidence in elections.Cybersecurity experts say itÂs crucial for states to shore up vulnerabili-ties in those systems now, with this yearÂs midterm elections underway and the 2020 presidential election on the horizon.J. Alex Halderman, director of the University of MichiganÂs Center for Computer Security and Society, said many of the same weaknesses present in 2016 remain.ÂI think itÂs only a matter of time before we suffer a devastating attack on our election systems unless our federal and state governments act quickly,ÂŽ he said.The federal Help Amer-ica Vote Act, passed two years after the messy presidential recount in Florida, requires states to have a centralized statewide voter registration list, but states vary in how they implement it.Most collect voter data at the state level and then provide it to local election officials, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Illinois and five other states do the opposite, collecting voter registration data at the local level and send-ing it to the state elections office. A few others have a hybrid system.The chief concern surrounding voter regis-tration systems and the growing use of electronic poll books to check in voters at polling places is how they interact with other internet-connected systems.Electronic poll books allow polling place work-ers to verify a personÂs registration and related information electronically, rather than having to rely on large paper files.A downside is that the e-poll books might use a network to connect to a voter registration system, providing a potential opening for hackers.In other cases, the voter data is transferred from a computer and placed on a device not connected to the internet. That com-puter is the potential weak link. Security experts said it must be secured and not subject to tampering.Experts with The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School said networkconnected election systems are vulnerable to attacks and urged offi-cials to take several steps to shore up security, including making sure the underlying server is not connected to the internet and that all changes are logged. Experts say a key component is that elec-tion systems can recover quickly in the event of an attack or even an equipment failure, limiting public disruption.Larry Norden, an expert in elections technology with The Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law, said the network connections make voter registration systems more vulnerable to hacking than voting machines, which are not directly connected to the internet.In many states, the department of motor vehicles or some other state agency provides information to the voter registration system as a way to keep the records current. Some states allow voters to register and edit their information on a state website that is connected to the voter database.All of those provide possible access points that can open the door to hackers.ÂJust understanding where the risks are is crit-ical,ÂŽ Norden said. SECURITYFrom Page A1Less than a year ago, Nauert wasnÂt even in government.She was a breaking news anchor on TrumpÂs favor-ite television show, ÂFox & Friends,ÂŽ when she was tapped to be the face and voice of the administra-tionÂs foreign policy. With a masterÂs in journalism from Columbia University, she had come to Fox from ABC News, where she was a general assignment reporter. She hadnÂt specialized in foreign policy or international relations.It was almost clear from the start that Nauert wasnÂt TillersonÂs first choice.She resisted the exoilmanÂs efforts to limit press access, reduce brief-ings and limit journalists allowed to travel with him. Tillerson had pre-ferred Genevieve Wood at the conservative Heritage Foundation, according to several individuals who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werenÂt authorized to publicly discuss TillersonÂs personnel decisions.When Nauert arrived at the State Department in April 2017, she found rela-tions between Tillerson and the diplomatic press corps in crisis. No longer were there daily briefings that had been a State Department feature for decades. Journalists accustomed to traveling with Republican and Democratic secretar-ies for decades found they were blocked from Tiller-sonÂs plane. Department spokespeople had no regu-lar access to Tillerson or his top advisers.Shut out from the top, Nauert developed relationships with career diplomats. Barred from traveling with Tillerson, she embarked on her own overseas trips, visiting Bangladesh and Myanmar last year to see the plight of Rohingya Muslims, and then Israel after a planned stop in Syria was scrapped. Limited to two briefings a week, she began hosting a program called ÂThe Read-outÂŽ on State Department social media outlets in which she interviewed senior officials about topics of the day. It only seriously grappled with fake news and Russian influence after sustained criticism from users, experts and politicians. In the case of Cambridge, Facebook says the main problem involved the transfer of data to a third party Â„ not its col-lection in the first place.Each new issue has also raised the same enduring questions about FacebookÂs conflicting priorities Â„ to protect its users, but also to ensure that it can exploit their personal details to fuel its hugely lucrative, and pre-cisely targeted, advertising business.Facebook may say its business model is to connect the world, but itÂs really Âto collect psychosocial data on users and sell that to advertisers.ÂŽ said Mike Caulfield, a fac-ulty trainer at Washington State University who directs a multi-university effort focused on digital literacy.Late Friday, Facebook announced it was banning Cambridge an outfit that helped Donald Trump win the White House, saying the company improperly obtained information from 270,000 people who downloaded a purported research app described as a personality test. Facebook first learned of this breach of privacy more than two years ago, but hasnÂt mentioned it pub-licly until now.And the company may still be playing down its scope. Christopher Wylie, a former Cambridge employee who served as a key source for detailed investigative reports published Saturday in The New York Times and The Guardian said the firm was actually able to pull in data from roughly 50 mil-lion profiles by extending its tentacles to the unwit-ting friends of app users. (Facebook has since barred such second-hand data collection by apps.)Wylie said he regrets the role he played in what he called Âa full service propaganda machine.ÂŽ CambridgeÂs goal, he told the Guardian in a video interview was to use the Facebook data to build detailed profiles that could be used to identify and then to target individual voters with personalized politi-cal messages calculated to sway their opinions.ÂIt was a grossly unethi-cal experiment,ÂŽ Wylie said. ÂBecause you are playing with an entire country. The psychology of an entire country without their consent or awareness.ÂŽCambridge has denied wrongdoing and calls Wylie a disgruntled former employee. It acknowl-edged obtaining user data in violation of Facebook policies, but blamed a middleman contractor for the problem. The company said it never used the data and deleted it all once it learned of the infraction Â„ an assertion contradicted by Wylie and now under investigation by Facebook.Jonathan Albright, research director at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, said Facebook badly needs to embrace the transparency it has essen-tially forced on its users by sharing their habits, likes and dislikes with advertis-ers. Albright has previously noted cases in which Face-book deleted thousands of posts detailing Russian influence on its service and underreported the audience for Russian posts by failing to men-tion millions of followers on Instagram, which Facebook owns. FACEBOOKFrom Page A1 NAUERTFrom Page A1

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A10 Monday, March 19, 2018 | DailyCommercial.com By Vladimir Isachenkov and Jill LawlessThe Associated PressMOSCOW Â„ Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday dismissed British accusations of RussiaÂs involvement in an ex-spyÂs poisoning as Ânonsense,ÂŽ but added that Moscow is ready to cooperate with London in the investigation.In his first comments on the incident, Putin referred to the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter as a Âtragedy,ÂŽ but added that if the British claim that they were poisoned by the Soviet-designed nerve agent were true, the victims would have been killed instantly.Skripal, a former Rus-sian intelligence officer convicted in his home country of spying for Britain, and his daughter have remained in critical condition following the March 4 poisoning.ÂItÂs quite obvious that if it were a military-grade nerve agent, people would have died on the spot,ÂŽ he said. ÂRussia doesnÂt have such means. We have destroyed all our chemical weapons under international over-sight unlike some of our partners.ÂŽPutinÂs comments came a few hours after British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he has evidence that Russia has been stockpiling a nerve agent in violation of international law Âvery likely for the purposes of assassination.ÂŽJohnson said the trail of blame for the poison-ing of Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury Âleads inexorably to the Kremlin.ÂŽJohnson told reporters that Britain has informa-tion that within the last 10 years, Âthe Russian state has been engaged in investigating the delivery of such agents, Novichok agents... very likely for the purposes of assassination.ÂŽHe said Âthey have been producing and stockpiling Novichok, contrary to what they have been saying.ÂŽPutin calls accusations over ex-spy poisoning ÂnonsenseÂRussian President Vladimir Putin waves after speaking to supporters during a rally near the Kremlin, in Moscow on Sunday. Vladimir Putin headed to an overwhelming win in RussiaÂs presidential election Sunday, adding six years in the Kremlin for the man who has led the worldÂs largest country for all of the 21st century. [AP PHOTO/ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO] By Jim Heintz and Vladimir IsachenkovAssociated PressMOSCOW Â„ Vladimir Putin rolled to a crushing re-election victory Sunday for six more years as RussiaÂs president, and he told cheering support-ers in a triumphant but brief speech that Âwe are bound for success.ÂŽThere had been no doubt that Putin would win in his fourth electoral contest; he faced seven minor candidates and his most prominent foe was blocked from the ballot.His only real challenge was to run up the tally so high that he could claim an indisputable mandate.With ballots from 80 percent of RussiaÂs precincts counted by early Monday, Putin had amassed 76 percent of the vote. Observers and individual voters reported widespread violations including ballot-box stuffing and forced voting, but the claims are unlikely to dilute the power of RussiaÂs longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin.As the embodiment of RussiaÂs resurgent power on the world stage, Putin commands immense loyalty among Russians. More than 30,000 crowded into Manezh Square adjacent to the Kremlin in temperatures of minus-10 degrees (15-degrees F) for a vic-tory concert and to await his words. Putin extolled them for their support Â„ ÂI am a member of your teamÂŽ Â„ and he promised them that Âwe are bound for success.ÂŽThen he left the stage after speaking for less than two minutes, a seemingly perfunctory appearance that encapsulated the electionÂs predictability.Since he took the helm in Russia on New YearÂs Eve 1999 after Boris YeltsinÂs surprise resignation, PutinÂs electoral power has centered on stability, a quality cherished by Russians after the chaotic breakup of the Soviet Union and the Âwild capitalismÂŽ of the Yeltsin years.But that stability has been bolstered by a suppression of dissent, the withering of independent media and the top-down control of politics called Âmanaged democracy.ÂŽThere were widespread reports of forced voting Sunday, efforts to make Russia appear to be a robust democracy.Among them were two election observers in Gorny Shchit, a rural district of Yekaterinburg, who told The Associated Press they saw an unusu-ally high influx of people going to the polls between noon and 2 p.m. A doctor at a hospital in the Ural mountains city told the AP that 2 p.m. was the deadline for health officials to report to their superiors that they had voted.ÂPeople were coming in all at once, (they) were entering in groups as if a tram has arrived at a stop,ÂŽ said one of the observers, Sergei Krivonogov The voters were taking pictures of the pocket calendars or leaflets that poll workers distributed, seemingly as proof of voting, he said.Other examples from observers and social media included ballot boxes being stuffed with extra ballots in multiple regions; an election official assaulting an observer; CCTV cameras obscured by flags or nets from watching ballot boxes; discrepancies in ballot numbers; last-minute voter registration changes likely designed to boost turnout; and a huge pro-Putin sign in one polling station.Election officials moved quickly to respond to some of the violations. They suspended the chief of a polling station near Moscow where a ballotstuffing incident was reported and sealed the ballot box. A man accused of tossing multiple ballots into a box in the far east-ern town of Artyom was arrested.Overall national turnout was expected to be a little more than 60 percent, which would be several points below turnout in PutinÂs elec-toral wins in 2000, 2004 and 2012. He did not run in 2008 because of term limits, but was appointed prime minister, a role in which he was widely seen as leader.Putin overwhelmingly wins another 6 years as Russian leader

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DailyCommercial.com | Monday, March 19, 2018 A11 ANOTHER OPINION OPINIONSteve Skaggs | Publisher Tom McNiff | Executive Editor Whitney Lehnecker | Digital Editor, Lifestyles Editor Tom McNiff, editor 352-365-8250 tom.mcniff@dailycommercial.com Last week, Lake County School Board member Sandy Gamble voiced support for the idea of arming school teachers and admin-istrators. HereÂs what Facebook users had to say:ÂSo you all think there arenÂt currently kids that carry guns on campus???? Bet there are more guns in backpacks than anyone would ever know. I also would wager there are teachers who carry extremely discreetly and wouldnÂt tell a soul or leave it lying around! If I can trust teachers to educate my childÂs mind, I trust those WHO ARE WILLING to get a concealed license and perhaps undergo a certain amount of training/range time, additional certification to carry. I would rather take that risk than to leave my kid a sitting duck when another student society failed makes another horrible decision.ÂŽ Jennifer UgorekÂTo be quite honest, the proposal to put hundreds of guns into LakeÂs classrooms feels like we are stumbling, without thought, into the Third World. There are alternatives. We can do better. Rather than shoving hundreds of guns into LakeÂs classrooms, hereÂs another approach: First, review and strengthen campus physical security. Then permanently station law enforcement officers in the schools. The use of school-based law enforcement officers provides not only security, but also offers opportunities to build long-term positive community relationships between police and students, provides opportunities for crime detection and prevention through those trusting relationships with students and provides studentinstructional opportunities. Frank Layne WoodÂSo will the costs that arise from the lawsuits arising from this idea come out of the school boardÂs salary or more likely from the already underfunded education system in Lake County? Because that matters! Put your money where your mouth is if you believe in this idea that much, sir! Answer that!ÂŽ Jennifer StamÂI havenÂt spoken with anyone who works at the school yet who thinks this is a good idea. Teachers are meant to teach, not be killers, even if it is a bad guy. Can someone who has only been taught to shoot at targets and beer bottles really be ready to stand off and shoot another human being? What about 3 or 4 of these big boys disarming the teacher and using the gun on him/her? When the cops get there and 4 or 5 teachers are shooting at the Âbad guy,Â will the cops know immediately who is good and who is bad while the bullets fly? And the teacher having a bad day: ÂI just took the gun out to scare him a little, I didnÂt mean for it to go off!Â Yeah, better have some good insurance and lawyers.ÂŽMarty WhatleyÂStupid, check YouTube for students beating down teachers, how long until a gun is taken away?ÂŽ Roy AlpitaÂMore guns more accidents. As a police officer I confronted a active shooter alone on several occasions, itÂs not a job for a teacher.ÂŽ Don VielÂI know without a doubt Sandy Barbara Gamble isnÂt taking this decision lightly and IÂm sure itÂs weighing on his heart. Sadly, people will criticize his decision on one side or the other.ÂŽ Amy Moore StrattonÂIf theyÂre competent and qualified I think itÂs a great idea!!!!ÂŽ John BabinecÂs a student more or less likely to enter a school with a gun if he knows that the school is going to fire back? If youÂre honest with yourself, the answer is less likely. ThatÂs the problem with gun free zones. Only the bad guys have guns. You would think that people would learn by now that bringing books and desks to a gun fight is not a good idea. Time to get serious about protecting our kids!ÂŽ Mike NixonFACEBOOK FORUMThis editorial appeared in a recent edition of theSarasota Herald-TribuneThe Florida Legislature has passed a multifaceted criminal-justice bill that can be described in the vernacular as a two-fer. The billÂs official name Â„ the committee substitute for Senate Bill 1392 Â„ recognizes that the legislation was subject to give-and-take and compromise. ItÂs a mash-up that blends an effort in the House of Representatives to reform criminal-justice databases and a movement in the Senate to provide alternatives to arrest and incarceration for relatively minor, nonviolent offenses. The good news is that both initiatives are warranted and represent progress. In the House, Rep. Chris Sprowls Â„ a Republican from Palm Harbor and chairman of the Judiciary Committee Â„ was the force behind provisions to significantly improve and enhance access to information related to arrests, plea bargains and sentences. The existing databases in Florida are inadequate and incompatible Â„ making it inordinately difficult to assess whether disparities in outcomes occur and to determine how the system might be made more effective. For instance, the Offender Based Transaction System database relied upon by the courts has not included the name of the defendant or the criminal case number; those shortcomings make analysis difficult, requiring decoding and other laborious tasks. The system has not included sentencing score sheets, which are critical to understanding the decisions of prosecutors and judges; furthermore, the score sheets have not included the defendantÂs race. Not good. The bill passed by the Legislature seeks to eliminate those deficiencies. Score sheets, for example, will be included in the database in digital form. The legislation requires a wealth of other information to be input and tracked Â„ data that should help local and state officials better manage county-jail and state-prison populations. And, just as important, the bill mandates that the comprehensive database be accurate, comparable, transferable, readily usable and publicly accessible; a Herald-Tribune news series focused on sentencing disparities found that the existing database lacked all of those features. The legislation calls upon virtually all institutional participants in the criminal-justice system to provide information that will be compiled and presented by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. An upgraded, useful database will provide additional value in light of the billÂs second component, which has been championed by Sen. Jeff Brandes. A Republican from Pinellas County and influential member of the Committee on Criminal Justice, Brandes led the effort for state law to authorize the use of civil citations as alternatives to arrest for certain crimes. The law also expands the potential for diversion programs as alternatives to incarceration in the county jail for specific nonviolent offenses. The legislation gives law enforcement agencies and courts leeway to craft, implement and oversee these endeavors. If provided judiciously and equitably, these options could benefit Florida. The database improvements and diversion programs are welcome, complementary attempts to commence reform of FloridaÂs justice system, promote good decision-making, achieve justice and enhance accountability.OUR OPINIONPlan represents progress on justice reformsThe mystery isnÂt why Rex Tillerson was fired this week. ItÂs why he lasted so long. Tillerson, a thoroughly conventional conservative who became secretary of state on the strength of a career negotiating oil deals for Exxon, was out of step with his boss from the start. He was a George W. Bush Republican in a Donald Trump world. His chief sponsors were Bush aides, Condoleezza Rice and Robert M. Gates. He was the embodiment of the theory that Trump would ÂpivotÂŽ toward traditional GOP policies after his inauguration. But the pivot never happened. That left Trump and Tillerson at odds on major issues. TrumpÂs version of ÂAmerica FirstÂŽ views international alliances as costly encumbrances; Tillerson wanted to preserve them. Trump wanted to tear up Barack ObamaÂs 2015 nuclear deal with Iran; Tillerson wanted to keep it. Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris agreement on climate change; Tillerson wanted to stay in. If that werenÂt enough, Tillerson was simply bad at his job. Instead of focusing on diplomacy, he spent much of his time redesigning the State Department bureaucracy and offering to cut his own budget. TillersonÂs defenders said he was a voice for moderation, and he was Â„ but an ineffective one. Trump undercut him relentlessly, dismissed his attempts to negotiate a deal with North Korea as useless, and finally took over the effort himself. Nor did Tillerson ever sincerely attempt to win over his boss on a personal level. When NBC reported that Tillerson had privately called Trump a Âmoron,ÂŽ the secretary of State denounced the report Â„ but never quite denied it. Rumors began circulating almost six months ago that Trump was ready to fire his ill-fitting secretary of State. The reports even named the most likely successor: CIA Director Mike Pompeo. So TillersonÂs dismissal came as the least surprising, and least graceful, firing in recent political history Â„ the first time a president has ever fired a Cabinet member on Twitter. The clumsy episode revived a perennial question: Can anyone who agrees to serve Trump escape without serious damage to his reputation? Pompeo is about to find out. On the surface, the former tea party congressman from Kansas looks like the antiTillerson. Tillerson is taciturn, understated and imperious. Pompeo is swaggering, loquacious and brashly hard line. The CIA, he said last year, Âmust be aggressive, vicious ... (and) focused on crushing our enemies.ÂŽ HeÂs won TrumpÂs heart the same way Defense Secretary James N. ÂMad DogÂŽ Mattis did, by sounding like a takeno-prisoners tough guy. Pompeo is clearly more hawkish than Tillerson, especially on Iran. After TrumpÂs election, then-Congressman Pompeo said he looked forward Âto rolling back this disastrous deal with the worldÂs largest state sponsor of terrorism.ÂŽ He has accused American Muslim leaders of being Âpotentially complicitÂŽ in domestic terrorism. But Pompeo, who learned international politics at West Point and graduated from Harvard Law School, is also quite capable of nuance and revision. Once installed at the CIA, he acknowledged that the Iran deal had put the United States Âin a marginally better placeÂŽ because it allowed international inspections of nuclear facilities. On North Korea, he believes that it may be impossible to force Kim Jong Un to dismantle his nuclear force immediately, and that the United States should pursue the Âsecondary goalÂŽ of stopping nuclear tests. And he has endorsed the intelligence communityÂs view that RussiaÂs Vladimir Putin meddled in the 2016 election and is trying to meddle again Â„ an unusual break from the president. He has consistently argued that Russia is a bigger threat than Trump seems to think. So itÂs not clear that PompeoÂs ascent means a major shift in foreign policy. Instead, it likely means a more effective Trump foreign policy Â„ one with the State Department inside the circle of decisionmakers, instead of outside. Long before this week, Trump wasnÂt listening to Tillerson; he was listening to Pompeo, who often delivered the presidentÂs morning intelligence briefing in person. The question for Pompeo, now that he is getting the most important job in the Cabinet, is how he will define his role. Will he be TrumpÂs enabler Â„ or will he try to restrain the presidentÂs undiplomatic impulses, as Tillerson tried to do? Will he submit to TrumpÂs worst instincts? Or will he tell the president when heÂs wrong? And will Trump listen? Doyle McManus is a contributing writer to Opinion.ANOTHER OPINIONRex Tillerson was an odd t from the start Doyle McManus

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DailyCommercial.com | Monday, March 19, 2018 B1 SPORTS COLLEGE BASKETBALL B4A ROUNDUP OF THE DAYÂS ACTION IN NCAA TOURNAMENT Paul Jenkins, Sports editor 352-365-8204 paul.jenkins@dailycommercial.comBy Steve MegargeeThe Associated PressMany of the freshman stars who garnered so much of the college basketball worldÂs attention during the regular season have already been bounced from March Madness.ArizonaÂs Deandre Ayton, OklahomaÂs Trae Young, MissouriÂs Michael Porter Jr., AlabamaÂs Collin Sexton and TexasÂ Mohamed Bamba are all considered potential NBA lot-tery picks whenever they decide to turn pro. TheyÂre also all out of the NCAA Tournament after facing the harsh reality that sometimes individual talent isnÂt enough in March.Sexton is the only fresh-man from that group who even reached the second round.ÂI hate losing,ÂŽ Young said after OklahomaÂs first-round overtime loss to Rhode Island. ÂThatÂs not in my DNA, losing.ÂŽOne lesson these freshmen are learning is rather obvious: It always helps to be surrounded by experienced players or equally talented freshmen.Only three of the top seven prospects from the 2017 recruit-ing class according to the 247Sports Composite remain in the tournament. ItÂs probably no coincidence that all three of them play for the same school: Duke.DukeÂs Marvin Bagley, Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter Jr. are in the regional semifinals after helping the Blue Devils win their first two NCAA Tournament games by an aver-age margin of 23 points. Duke has five players Â„ including four freshmen Â„ with NCAA Tournament scoring averages in double figures thus far.ÂJust being able to share the wealth in between one another and for us to be all together and be unselfish, itÂs a great thing,ÂŽ Carter said.The Duke freshmen say they have benefited from having tal-ented classmates around them who are going through similar situations. TheyÂve also worked alongside senior guard Grayson Allen and his wealth of postsea-son experience.ÂThatÂs the reason I came to Duke, to play with a lot of great guys who IÂve seen play before and to be able to team up with these guys and figure out each other and work together,ÂŽ Bagley said. ÂItÂs a great feeling.ÂŽStar ops: Several NBA prospects bounced from NCAAsAlabamaÂs Collin Sexton (2) chases down a long pass after getting by Virginia TechÂs Wabissa Bede (3) during the second half of an NCAA menÂs college basketball tournament Â“ rst-round game Thursday in Pittsburgh. Alabama won 86-83. [AP PHOTO/KEITH SRAKOCIC] By Doug FergusonThe Associated PressORLANDO Â„ The loudest roars at Bay Hill were for Tiger Woods. The last ones were for Rory McIlroy.McIlroy left some indelible images of his own Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invita-tional with a back-nine charge that would have made the King proud, and a final putt on the 18th green that a delirious gallery had seen for so many years from Woods.McIlroy ran off five birdies over his last six holes and closed with an 8-under 64 for a three-shot victory. He won for the first time since the Tour Championship on Sept. 25, 2016, the day Palmer died.ÂI wish I walked up that hill and got a handshake from him,ÂŽ McIlroy said. ÂBut IÂm so happy to put my name on that trophy.ÂŽBay Hill was rocking all afternoon, mostly for that red shirt. Woods, who started the final round five shots behind, made three birdies in a fourhole stretch to start the back nine and was within shot of the lead as everyone behind him on the course appeared to stall.McIlroy takes three-shot victory at Bay HillLast roars for RoryRory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, kisses the championship trophy after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament Sunday in Orlando. [AP PHOTO/PHELAN M. EBENHACK] By Greg BeachamThe Associated PressFONTANA, Calif. Â„ Martin Truex Jr. saw nothing but clean air and green flags down the stretch in his first victory of the new NASCAR Cup season.Truex didnÂt get much of a look at Kevin Harvick, whose bid for four straight wins was ruined by an early crash at Fontana. So even while TruexÂs Fur-niture Row Racing Toyota team celebrated, it was a wee bit disappointed not to get a duel with the early-season king. ÂI think we would have had something for him today,ÂŽ team owner Barney Visser said.Truex roared to victory at Fontana on Sunday, beating Kyle Larson by 11 seconds to claim the first win of the season for last yearÂs series champion.Truex won both stages Truex Jr. grabs win at Fontana Martin Truex Jr. celebrates after winning the NASCAR 400 mile auto race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. [AP PHOTO/WILL LESTER] See TRUEX, B3 See BAY HILL, B3 See NCAA, B4By Mark LongThe Associated PressGAINESVILLE Â„ Richie Crampton was sitting home during the 2017 Gatornationals, distraught about being out of the sport just two years after winning five times.He watched the event from his couch in Indiana and wondered whether he would get another chance in NHRAÂs top series.He caught a break last May when team owner Connie Kalitta called. The 37-year-old Crampton took a big step toward securing his future with the team by winning the Gator-nationals on Sunday.Crampton upset teammate Doug Kalitta and three-time champion Antron Brown to make the final, and then took advantage of Shawn ReedÂs engine trouble to claim the eighth win of his NHRA career and first for Connie Kalitta.ÂYou donÂt know if youÂre going to get another go around,ÂŽ Crampton said. ÂWhen I got that magical phone call to come to Indy and drive for Connie, IÂd been waiting for that phone call for nine months and I never thought IÂd get it. Luckily, we were able to parlay that into a full-time gig this year.ÂŽCrampton won seven events in two seasons for Morgan Lucas Racing. But when the team shuttered its Top Fuel program following the 2016 season, Crampton was out of a job. He got the call in September and replaced Troy Coughlin Jr. for the final race of the reg-ular season. He ended up moving into Shawn LangdonÂs ride when Langdon switched from Top Fuel to Funny Car.Crampton essentially went from being out of the sport to standing on one of its biggest stages: The winnersÂ circle at historic Gainesville Raceway.ÂI tried to take it in stride,ÂŽ Crampton said. ÂIÂve been exceptionally lucky. ... IÂd been very spoiled in my short career. I was content, but I felt like I still had some unfinished business out here. I wanted to get back, but we know thatÂs not always a given. Pretty lucky.ÂŽReed, the No. 12 qualifier, upset Tony Schumacher and top-seeded Clay Milli-can to reach the first final of his career. Reed didnÂt even get a chance to run for the victory.Reed had to shut the engine off following a burn-out because crewmembers noticed a fuel leak. That meant Crampton would make a solo pass for the trophy.Crampton wins NHRA Gatornationals after lengthy racing absenceCrampton See NHRA, B3

DailyCommercial.com | Monday, March 19, 2018 B3Crampton covered the 1,000-foot distance in 3.854 seconds and reached 314.90 mph Â„ a strong enough pass that he felt he would have won anyway.ÂItÂs not how you want to win it,ÂŽ Crampton said. ÂBut this is probably one of my more rewarding wins ever.ÂŽCramptonÂs crew dogpiled at the starting line. Three other teams cel-ebrated victories, too.Jack Beckman beat Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan in the Funny Car final. Tanner Gray knocked off defending class champion Bo Butner in the Pro Stock class. And defending class champion Eddie Krawiec edged team-mate Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle. It was KrawiecÂs third straight victory in Gainesville and sixth in the last nine years.ÂIt was such a bucket list thing,ÂŽ said Beckman, the 2012 class Funny Car champion who had never won the Gatornationals despite winning 27 previ-ous events.Hagan was involved in the strangest race of the day. Hagan and John Force Racing driver Robert Hight blew engines almost simul-taneously in the second round of eliminations. Hagan crossed the finish line first with his chassis engulfed in flames.Both drivers walked away unscathed. It was the fourth blown engine this season for John Force Racing.HaganÂs team rushed to get a backup car ready and managed to win the next round to reach the final.ÂIÂve never seen every car on the race track shuck its body,ÂŽ said Beckman. NHRAFrom Page B1before rolling to the checkered flag on his 16th career victory and his first since that glorious championship day at Homestead last Novem-ber. His first career victory at Fontana even moved Truex into the overall points lead, thanks to Har-vickÂs woes.Harvick dragged his damaged car to a 35thplace finish after early contact with Larson ruined his day. But after dominating at Auto Club Speedway, TruexÂs team was no longer certain Har-vick has the fastest ride in the field.ÂIt just feels good to win,ÂŽ said Truex, who became the third driver to win from the pole at Fontana. ÂI donÂt really worry about who else is fast. Obviously (Harvick) has been quick. TheyÂve got a great team, and Kevin is an awesome driver. But as weÂve seen today, we can put together a run as well.ÂŽTruex took the lead for good with 32 laps left by getting past Kyle Busch, who finished third. Brad Keselowski was fourth.ÂPeople kept asking, ÂWhen are you going to win again?ÂÂŽ said Truex, who led 125 laps overall. ÂÂWhen are you going to win any stages?Â Well, here you go.ÂŽWhen Truex got a series of post-race questions about Harvick, the defending champ sug-gested that Furniture Row proved early on that it can hang with Stewart-Haas Racing.ÂThat first pit stop was under green, and he came in pretty close (to me),ÂŽ Truex said. ÂWe left pit road, and I drove away from him. That was the only gauge I really had of that. ... IÂm sure weÂll have plenty of chances to race each other throughout the rest of the season.ÂŽHere are more things to know about the race at Fontana:KEVINÂS SMACK: HarvickÂs bid to become the 14th driver ever to win four straight races ended when he hit the wall after side-to-side contact with Larson on the 37th lap. HarvickÂs flapping bumper was the most obvious problem, but he made a nice save down the track to avoid an interior wall.Harvick took the blame for the mistake. TRUEXFrom Page B1One shot changed everything. Woods couldnÂt commit to a swing with his driver on the par-5 16th hole and sent it far and left Â„ way left Â„ over a fence and out-of-bounds, sending him to a bogey when he couldnÂt afford anything less than birdie.He finished bogeybogey-par for a 3-under 69 and tumbled down the leaderboard into a tie for fifth.ThatÂs about when McIlroy pulled away.Until then, five play-ers were separated by one shot. Before long, McIlroy was leaving everyone in his wake.He made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 13th to take the lead over hard-luck Henrik Stenson, and then rolled one in from 20 feet on the next hole. If that wasnÂt enough, McIlroy chipped in from 40 feet on the 15th hole, and then pounded a 375-yard drive on the 16th that set up a two-putt birdie.Bryson DeChambeau made the last run at him, gouging a shot out of the rough, over the water and onto the green at No. 16 and pumping his fist when the eagle putt caught enough of the cup to drop in. That put him one shot behind.McIlroy, however, wasnÂt finished. He left his putt about 25 feet above the hole on No. 18, roughly the same spot from where Woods made birdie putts to win in 2001, 2008 and 2009. Woods slammed his cap to the ground in 2008, not realizing he had done that.McIlroy buried the putt, raised both arms in the air and turned to slam his fist as the grandstands erupted with cheers.ÂIÂve seen Tiger make that enough times to know what it does,ÂŽ McIlroy said. ÂSo I just wanted to try and emulate that. DidnÂt quite give it the hat toss Â„ I was thinking about doing it. But just to be able to create my own little bit of history on the 18th green here is pretty special.ÂŽThat gave him a twoshot lead, and he was a winner for the 22nd time worldwide when DeChambeau failed to hole out from the fairway for eagle. DeChambeau made bogey from the bunker on the 18th for a 68 and finished alone in second.Justin Rose lingered all day but was never a threat over the final hour, instead watching McIlroy put on a stunning charge. BAY HILLFrom Page B1Tiger Woods tees off during the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando on Sunday. [STEPHEN M. DOWELL /ORLANDO SENTINEL VIA AP] Race leader Martin Truex Jr. exits turn two during the NASCAR 400 mile auto race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. [AP PHOTO/WILL LESTER]

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B4 Monday, March 19, 2018 | DailyCommercial.com NCAATOURNAMENT ROUNDOF32AlookatSundayÂs second-roundgames SundayÂsstarHaarmsrace: Purdue freshmanMattHaarms madehisÂ“rststartof theseasoninplaceof starBoilermakerscenter IsaacHaas,whobroke hiselbowinFridayÂswin overCalStateFullerton.Despitemissingan easylayupearlyon,the 7-foot-3freshmanhad twoblocks,sevenpoints andÂ“vereboundsinthe Â“rsttwentyminutes.SundayÂsbestLoyola-Chicagosavoring sweetNCAAsafterrebuild PorterMoserwantshis Loyola-Chicagoplayers tosavoreverymomentof theNCAATournament.It tooktheRamblersalong time,andlast-moment shotsinconsecutive games,togofromwhat hetermedaÂgrassroots rebuildÂŽtotheSweet16. ÂItÂsamazingwhenyou haveagroupofpeople whobelieve,ÂŽMosersaid. ÂImean,justthisgroupis resilient.Theybelieve.ÂŽ MaybeonthisSunday, whentheyreturnedhome toChicagofromDallas, theytookthechanceto catchtheirbreathabitÂ„ andsayaprayerortwo ofthanks.ÂWeknewwe werehavingtowinand wintheconferenceand thengettotheconferencetournament,anditÂs beenthismentalityofyou win,enjoythemoment,ÂŽ Mosersaid.ÂIÂmletting themenjoyitbecauseitÂs amature,closegroup. AndIwantthemtoenjoy it.Thenthenextday,we allsayputitinthebank, nextoneup.ÂŽIn100years ofbasketballatLoyola, aCatholiccollegeinthe heartofChicagowithof about16,000students, noteamhaswonmore gamesthanthisyearÂs Ramblers(30-5),the No.11seedintheSouth Region.ÂItjustmeans theworldtoustobring thatpridebacktothis program,ÂŽseniorguard BenRichardsonsaid. Theymatchedthe29wins oftheir1963national championshipteamwhen DonteIngramÂslastmoment3-pointerbeat MiamiintheNCAAopener Thursday.Theybroke thatmarktwodayslater, whenClaytonCusterÂs jumpergotafriendly bounceofftherimwith 3.6secondsleftfora winoverTennessee.ÂIt justmeansourseasonis notover,ÂŽseniorAundre Jacksonsaid.ÂWeÂve reachednoÂ“nishline.ÂŽ LoyolaplaysinAtlanta nextThursdaynight againstNo.2seedCincinnatiorNo.7seedNevada, whosesecond-round gamewasSundaynight. TheRamblerswillget anotherpregameprayer fromSisterJean,their 98-year-oldteamchaplain whoalsoprovidesher ownscoutingreportsand notesofencouragement totheRamblers.TheAssociatedPress Nevada75,Cincinnati73: TheNevadaWolfPackjustkeepsdiggingoutofdeepholes.AndnowtheyÂreontheirwaytoNevadaÂs Â“rstSweet16since2004.Theseventh-seededWolfPacktrailed thistimeby22beforeanamazingcomeback.JoshHallhitashort j umperwith9.1secondslefttogiveNevadaitsonlyleadofthe gameat75-73,andNo.2seedCincinnaticouldnÂtgetashotoff beforetheclockexpiredsendingtheWolfPackcelebratingand huggingonthecourt.Nevadatrailedby14inthesecondhalfof theirÂ“rst-roundgamewhentheyforcedovertimeandbeatTexas. CincinnatiwasthehighestremainingseedleftintheSouthRegion afterastringofupsets,andnowtheBearcatsarethelatesttogo down.NowNevadawillplayanothersurprisingteaminLoyolaChicagointheSouthRegionsemiÂ“nalsThursdayinAtlanta.SouthRegionTexasA&M86,NorthCarolina65: T.J.Starksscored21pointsand TexasA&MoverpoweredNorthCarolinainside,upsettingthe reigningnationalchampions86-65SundayintheNCAATournament tomarkthesecondstraightyearatitleholdermissedtheSweet 16.Theseventh-seededAggies(22-12)dideverythingtheyhadto dotohandtheTarHeelsararelossinahome-stateNCAAgame. Theydominatedtheglass.Theyusedtheirsizetocontrolthepaint andblockshots.AndtheypouncedwhenUNCÂssmall-balllineup couldnÂtmakeanoutsideshot.RobertWilliamsÂ“nishedwith13 rebounds,helpingtheAggiestakea50-36edgewhileshooting52 percentÂ„including10of24from3-pointrange.JoelBerryIIscored 21pointsinhisÂ“nalgameforthesecond-seededTarHeels(26-11), whoweretryingtoreachtheirthirdstraightFinalFour.Butthey endedupfallingto34-2inNCAAgamesintheirhomestate,the onlyotherlosscomingin1979.WestRegionPurdue76,Butler73: DakotaMathiassanka3-pointerwith14.2 secondsleftandsecond-seededPurdue,minusstarcenterIsaac Haas,heldoff10th-seededButler76-73onSundaytoreachthe Sweet16forthesecondconsecutiveyear.TheBoilermakers(30-6) ledbyasmanyas10pointsinthesecondhalf,butButler(21-14)cut thedeÂ“cittotwoandhadtheballintheÂ“nalminute.KalenMartin misseda3-pointer,andtheshotbyMathiasattheotherendmade it76-71.Martinscoredwith2.1secondsremaining,andP.J.Thompsonmissedthefrontendofaone-and-one,givingButleranother chance.TheBulldogscalledatimeoutwith1.8secondsleft,and KamarBaldwinÂsshotfromnearmidcourthittherimÂ„althoughit mayhavebeenwavedoffonareviewevenifithadgonein.Vincent Edwardsscored20pointsdespiteearlyfoultroubleforPurdue, andMattHaarmsÂ“lledincapablyfortheinjuredHaas.TheBoilermakerssetaschoolrecordforvictoriesinaseasonandareinthe regionalsemiÂ“nalsforthefourthtimeundercoachMattPainter. Purduefacesthird-seededTexasTechonFridayinBoston.EastRegion ByLarryLageTheAssociatedPressDETROITÂ„Thelastteamselectedforthefieldof68isgoingtotheroundof16.TyusBattlehad17pointsandOshaeBrissettscored15,lifting11th-seededSyracusetoa55-53winoverthirdseededMichiganStateon SundayandintotheNCAATournamentÂsSweet16.CassiusWinstonmissedanopportunitytowinthegamefortheSpartanswithashotfromabout45feetjustbeforethebuzzer.TheSpartans,flummoxedbySyracuseÂs2-3zone,didnÂtmakeabasketin thelast5:41.TheOrange(23-13)forced theSpartans(30-5)tosettle for3-pointersallafternoon anditworkedbrilliantly forHallofFamecoachJimBoeheimagainstHallofFamecoachTomIzzo. TheSpartanstookaschoolrecord37shotsbeyondthe arc,makingjusteightofthem. ÂNooneplayszonelikewedo,ÂŽBrissettsaid.ÂWeÂrealwaysmoving,andwechal-lengeeveryshot,soteams nevergeteasylooksagainstus.ÂŽSyracusehaswonthree straightsincebeingsentto DaytonfortheFirstFouras whattheselectioncommitteechairmanacknowledgedwasthefinalteamtoreceiveanat-largebid.MilesBridgesmisseda3 withachancetotiewith11 secondsleftandteammate JoshuaLangfordmissedaputback,butSyracuseturned theballoverwith7.9secondsleft.TheOrangefouledintentionallytoavoidgivingup agame-tying3twiceintheclosingsecondsandtheSpar-tansmadetwopairsoffreethrowstopullwithinapointbothtimes.ÂWeÂrealwaysgoingto foulinthosesituationsand itÂsalwaysworkedforus,ÂŽ Boeheimsaid.ÂIÂveseentoomanyguyswhentheguymakesa3anditgoesintoovertime.ÂŽPaschalChukwuconnectedononefreethrowwith2.4 secondsleftandthemissgaveMichiganStateachancetowinindramaticfashion, butWinstoncouldnÂtmakealongshottobehailedinhis hometown.Syracusetooktheleadwith4:22leftforthefirsttime sinceitwasahead14-12. TheOrangeheldontoslimleadsbecausetheyforcedtheSpartanstomisstheirlast13shots.BridgesÂcollegecareerlikelyisendingwithaperfor-mancehewouldliketoforget.ÂItÂsprobablythesaddest IÂveeverbeeninmylife,ÂŽBridgessaid.Thesophomorestar,who turneddownachancetogoprolastyear,washeldscore-lessformuchofthefirsthalfandfinishedwith11pointson4of18shooting,makingjust 3of12shots.ÂBridgesisagreatplayer, butwewantedtomakehim shootfromtheoutside,ÂŽBoeheimsaid.Winstonscored15points andNickWardadded10for theSpartans,whoshotjust26percent. BigpictureSyracusecanbeaproblemforanyteambecausethat zoneisoftenunfamiliarandtheteamsuddenlyhasconfi-dence,thoughstillnotmuchoffense.MichiganStatemayhave aroughoffseasonbecauseit willlikelyloseBridgesandfreshmanJarenJacksontotheNBAdraftandtheschoolÂs crisisoncampusisnÂtgoingawayanytimesoon.Savingthebestforlast 11th-seededSyracuse, the68thteamselected forthetournament, upsets3rd-seeded MichiganStateMembersoftheSyracuseteamcelebratea55-53winoverMichiganStateinSundayÂssecond-round NCAAtournamentgameinDetroit.[CARLOSOSORIO/THEASSOCIATEDPRESS] PurdueforwardMattHaarms(32)shootsonButlerforwardTyler Wideman(4)duringtheÂ“rsthalfofSundayÂssecond-roundgamein Detroit.[PAULSANCYA/THEASSOCIATEDPRESS] Kentucky also has reached the Sweet 16 with a freshman class that included five of the nationÂs top 18 Class of 2017 recruits according to the 247Sports Composite. Fresh-men Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Hamidou Diallo, PJ Washington and Kevin Knox have averaged a combined 66 points in two NCAA Tournament games.Many of the notable freshmen who were ousted from the NCAA Tournament played quite well.Young had 28 points and seven assists against Rhode Island. Ayton had 14 points and 13 rebounds in ArizonaÂs loss to Buffalo. Bamba had 13 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out of an overtime loss to Nevada. Porter played just three games for Missouri all season because of a lower back injury that required surgery, but he had 16 points and 10 rebounds against Florida State. Sexton averaged 21 points in his two NCAA Tour-nament games. ÂFor anybody not to remem-ber Deandre as the greatest freshman that ever walked through Arizona, they werenÂt paying attention, statistically and just the type of kid he is,ÂŽ Arizona coach Sean Miller said. ÂHeÂs destined to do some great things. When you get someone like him, you want to go all the way, right? And when you lose in the first round, thatÂs a tough pill to swallow.ÂŽBut in many cases, they didnÂt have enough help. For instance, Sexton was the only Alabama player to score in double figures in the Crimson TideÂs second-round loss to Villanova.Now these freshmen will have to sit and watch the rest of the NCAA Tournament while learning from the frustrating finishes to their seasons.ÂI left everything I could, and I know my teammates did as well, (left) everything they could on that floor,ÂŽ Young said. ÂBut IÂve had to mature, like I said, all season. This is all the process. This is all this is a chapter in my book. This season, that chapter is closed now.ÂŽ NCAAFrom Page B1ÂFor anybody not to remember Deandre as the greatest freshman that ever walked through Arizona, they werenÂt paying attention, statistically and just the type of kid he is.ÂŽ Arizona coach Sean Miller

DEAR ABBY: I am a 53-year-old woman who has nally met a kind, decent man after many abusive relationships. I honor our bond and have been open about my past, which has been colorful, to say the least. I was an addict. It was a long addiction that left me homeless and almost killed me many times. I have kept this part of my life a secret from everyone out of shame and fear of judgment. I would love to be open about it with him and let him know how much drugs affected me, but I don't want to drive him away. Any advice is appreciated. -EX-ADDICT IN CALIFORNIA DEAR EX-ADDICT: In one sentence you say you have been open about your past; in the next you say you are keeping your addiction and what it cost you a secret. You don't say how long you have known this man, or whether you plan to make this relationship permanent. If you do, you should tell him about your entire past because, if he nds out some other way, THAT is what could cause him to end the relationship.DEAR ABBY: I have a problem with my family. I am a woman in my 60s who does not and never has driven a car or any other vehicle. My older sister and brother think I have leprosy because I don't drive. How can I, or anyone in the same position as I am, get through to them that not everyone drives, and that those of us who don't or can't are like anyone else on this planet? -NOT BEHIND THE WHEEL DEAR NOT BEHIND THE WHEEL: Please clip this and share it with your sister and brother. Not everyone drives or aspires to. Some people are phobic about getting behind the wheel. Others recognize they are not good at it, while still others can't afford a car. Unless you have been imposing upon your relatives for transportation, they should not be critical of your choice. My late mother was a nondriver. She quit after skidding into the back of a coal truck during a Wisconsin winter. I'll never forget it because it left me with a scar on my knee when it hit the air-conditioning vent. Viewed from my perspective, she made the right choice, and so have you. It's a wise person who knows their limitations.DEAR ABBY: This may seem minor in the scheme of things, but it's driving me crazy. Occasionally we have a potluck day at work. The problem is, while there are always people who eat, others never bring food to share. It's usually the men in our ofce -those who hold higher positions and make far more money than the rest of us. They are also the ones who eat the most. They go back for seconds before the rest of us have eaten. If they do occasionally bring anything, it's usually a bag of chips. I'm tired of paying for their lunches when they are more than capable of providing something -takeout from a deli or even asking their wives to help. I'm also tired of going to get my lunch and discovering most of the food is already gone. I would welcome your advice or any tips your readers may have. -FED UP IN DES MOINES DEAR FED UP: Try this: Assign a list of what people need to bring to the potluck so there won't be duplication. And when you do, specify that only those who participate can eat the food. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. How to play: Fill in the blank squares with the numbers 1 through 9 so that each horizontal row, vertical column and nine-square sub-grid contains no repeated numbers. Puzzles range in diculty from one to six stars. The solution to todays puzzle will be in tomorrows paper. YESTERDAYS SOLUTION BRIDGE CRYPTOQUOTE HOROSCOPES TODAY IN HISTORY DIVERSIONS Longtime addiction remains a secret in womans past license tocruise...Place your auto ad in the and watch it go! Call Classieds Today!352-314-FAST (3278) HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2018:This year you can be difcult when challenged, and might become contentious easily. Make a point of staying out of battles. You could experience big ups and downs in an important relationship. Instead of ghting change, dive right in and embrace the inevitable. If you are single, you will meet someone who could become very special to you this year. Just be open. If you are attached, your bond has a very exciting and unpredictable tone to it. Your sweetie enjoys your lively personality. ARIES could throw you off your game.ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19) You might encounter a hassle with someone who feels as if his or her way is the only way. Youll be only too happy to let this person know otherwise. You greet the unpredictable with a smile. Accept an offer to head in a new direction. TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20) A contrary partner could have you in ts over the best way to proceed. You would prefer to head in your own direction. Youll gain a sudden insight about what you should do. Even if it isnt what you want to do, take action and clear up a problem. GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20) Charge into your day with determination, and bypass a contrary person. You still might be surprised by what this person decides to do. You are focused and all smiles. You could feel pushed by the end of the day to assess what you have accomplished. CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22) Emphasize your ideas and your ability to take the lead. Someone close to you does not appreciate your efforts. You could be too tired of this persons complaints to remain restrained. Choose your words with care, and be ready for a strong reaction. LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22) Keep the big picture in mind. You seem reasonable to many people, but they often wonder where you are coming from. You are able to see what others miss. Youll want to consider sharing more of your insights. VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22) Relate to others on an individual level, when possible. Dont get pulled into a big meeting, as you wont be comfortable. Maintain your sense of humor, despite an unexpected response from a partner. This person might be processing his or her thoughts. LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22) The best way to win a power play or battle of wills is not to play. Bypass the situation, not by ignoring it, but by not getting involved. Expect the other party to be upset, as he or she counts on you to respond to his or her innuendos. The unexpected marks your day. SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21) Youll want to dive into work and get as much done as possible. You could get into a difcult argument that is likely to mark the next several days, if not weeks. Weigh the pros and cons of getting into a conversation that seems contentious. SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21) Do not underestimate the implications of a difcult matter that involves your nances. You might not expect to have a problem, or you could deny that possibility. Your creativity comes up with a solution. The unexpected occurs. CAPRICORN (DEC. 22JAN. 19) You might want to take a stand at home or at work. Do not expect a positive reception. Others are not likely to be in agreement. You could be taken aback by someone elses words or actions. Lie low, and watch what takes place. AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18) You could be juggling an overwhelming amount of messages, calls and surprise visits. Trying to stay up to date with your regular demands will take talent. An unexpected event could throw you even further off base. Honor a fast change of pace. PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20) Your internal conversations might be calling for a change in how you handle your assets. You have to decide whether you are willing to deal with this issue. Just how quickly you can get a hold of yourself will be determined by your exibility. DailyCommercial.com | Monday, March 19, 2018 B7 TODAY IS MONDAY, MARCH 19, the 78th day of 2018. There are 287 days left in the year. TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On March 19, 1918, Congress passed the rst law establishing daylight saving time in the United States, with clocks to be moved forward one hour from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. (This law was repealed in August 1919.) ON THIS DATE: In 1931 Nevada Gov. Fred B. Balzar signed a measure legalizing casino gambling. In 1953 the Academy Awards ceremony was televised for the rst time; "The Greatest Show on Earth" was named best picture of 1952. In 1965 the wreck of the Confederate cruiser Georgiana was discovered by E. Lee Spence, 102 years to the day after it was scuttled. In 1987 televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid a sex and money scandal involving Jessica Hahn, a former church secretary. In 1993 Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White announced plans to retire. (White's departure paved the way for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to become the court's second female justice.) In 2003 President George W. Bush ordered the start of war against Iraq. (Because of the time dierence, it was early March 20 in Iraq.)

2255GENERAL EMPLOYMENTPUBLISHER'S NOTICEFederal and State laws prohibit advertising expressing a discriminatory preference on the basis of race, age, sex, color, national origin, religion, handicap or marital status. The Daily Commercial will not knowingly accept advertisement for employment which is in violation of the law. Employment Advertising Standards of Acceptance Employment Classifications are intended to announce bona de employment offers only. Employment advertising must disclose the specic nature of the work being offered. Some employment categories may charge fees. If any advertiser does not comply with these standards, please notify a Classied Sales Representative at 365-8245 or 365-8200. DailyCommercial.com | Monday, March 19, 2018 B9 This newspaper will never knowingly accept advertisement that is illegal or considered fraudulent. If you have questions or doubts about any ads on these pages, we advise that before responding or sending money ahead of time, you check with the local Attorney GeneralÂs Consumer Fraud Line and/or the Better Business Bureau. Also be advised that some phone numbers published in these ads may require an extra charge. In all cases of questionable value, such as promises or guaranteed income from work-athome programs, money to loan, etc., if it sounds too good to be true Â„ it may in fact be exactly that. This newspaper cannot be held responsible for any negative consequences that occur as a result of you doing business with these advertisers. Thank you. NOTICES 1000-1999READER NOTICE 1001 Get the paper delivered to you! Call Us Today! 787-0600 (Lake) Â€ 877-702-0600 (Sumter) 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mon Fri. subscribe online at www.dailycommercial.com Please recycle the newspaper! Looking for a Handyman?Check out theService Directory

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2990 6865PETSThe Florida Statute 828.29 states that no dog, puppy, cat or kitten may be offered for sale without a health certi cate, nor can any puppy or kitten be sold under the age of 8 weeks, nor can you advertise puppies or kittens with a deposit to hold. B10 Monday, March 19, 2018 | DailyCommercial.com Find yourFurry FriendÂ’s pet supplies in CLASSIFIEDS Oh Baby!Get Your FREE COPY OF Visit our oce at: Daily Commercial Â€ 212 E Main Street Lisa Clay 352-365-8251 Steve Skaggs 352-365-8213 Or contact: